Ukraine raises UAH 318 billion at bond auctions in 2026 but nets only UAH 42 billion
NBU data show September hryvnia bond yields topped out at 16.5% with no FX placements, as the bank changed how it sizes three-month certificates of deposit.
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Ukraine's government raised UAH 318,496.4 million, $452.0 million and EUR 696.7 million from auctions of domestic government bonds in the first nine months of 2026, according to data published by the National Bank of Ukraine on 2 October. Over the same period it spent UAH 276,802.5 million, $650.0 million and EUR 557.8 million on redemptions.
On the Data Desk's calculation, that leaves net hryvnia borrowing of about UAH 41.7 billion for the year to September and net euro borrowing of about EUR 139 million, while the dollar segment shrank on a net basis by $198 million. Most of what the auctions raised went to roll over maturing debt rather than to add net new hryvnia funding.
Yields at 16.5%, no FX sales in September
The maximum yield on hryvnia bonds sold at auction in September was 16.5 per cent a year, and no dollar or euro bonds were placed during the month, according to the release. The Ministry of Finance redeemed UAH 20,540.6 million of hryvnia war bonds in September.
The top auction yield sits just above the central bank's key policy rate, which the NBU raised by half a point to 16 per cent from 18 September, according to its rate decision. The board said in that decision that its July increase had already supported demand for hryvnia deposits and domestic government bonds, limiting pressure on the currency market.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, the government has raised UAH 1,800,612.1 million, $11,243.3 million and EUR 3,944.0 million through primary auctions, and allocated UAH 1,271,956.7 million, $12,145.3 million and EUR 3,479.2 million to redemptions, the NBU said. The central bank said it has settled auctions that place new bonds in exchange for outstanding bonds of other issues since 2025, which widened the finance ministry's options for managing its domestic debt.
Who holds the bonds
Legal entities held domestic government bonds worth the equivalent of UAH 1,153.1 billion on 1 October, of which UAH 1,074,102.0 million was in hryvnia paper, $1,049.1 million in dollar bonds and EUR 633.9 million in euro bonds. Individuals held the equivalent of UAH 167.5 billion, including $1,156.8 million of dollar bonds. Non-residents held only the equivalent of UAH 17.7 billion, according to the depository data.
Banks, as primary dealers, hold the largest portfolio of war bonds. Business entities other than banks held war bonds worth UAH 77.2 billion, down from UAH 84.8 billion a year earlier. Individuals held war bonds worth UAH 110.4 billion, and they own 52.7 per cent of all dollar-denominated war bonds by value, the release showed.
A new lever on bank liquidity
The figures arrived alongside a change in one of the instruments the NBU uses to absorb hryvnia liquidity from banks. On 1 October the central bank disclosed the main principle it uses to set the volume of three-month certificates of deposit placed through interest rate tenders: it takes into account the aggregate limit on banks' purchases of those certificates, according to its statement.
The NBU said the approach links banks' acceptance of hryvnia term deposits from households to their ability to invest in three-month certificates, and increases price competition among banks in the tenders. The aim is to keep banks competing for depositors and hryvnia savings attractive. The proposal to disclose the principle was made at the Monetary Policy Committee meeting on 16 September, and it forms part of a modernisation of the NBU's interest rate operational framework announced on 30 July, whose first stage took effect on 7 August, the statement said.
The NBU said it plans to increase the transparency of the parameters for three-month certificate placements as the framework evolves, while keeping monetary conditions appropriately tight. Its next rate decision is due on 29 October, according to the September decision.
Method: net borrowing figures were calculated by the Data Desk as auction proceeds minus redemptions, by currency, from the NBU's published totals.